What it does: Manufactures and sells reusable personal water-filtration bottles and filtration jugs

How it grew: Richard and Stephanie Smiedt moved from their native Australia to New York in late 2008 to fulfill a dream: to launch a company that would sell reusable water bottles with built-in filters made from recycled plastic. He is a veteran consumer goods executive, while she is a product development expert and visual artist.

But they were unable to raise any money for the company, Move Collective, in the midst of the economic crisis. So instead, they invited six experts in such areas as marketing, sales, manufacturing and distribution to work with them in exchange for a small equity stake. The professionals also had to invest some of their own money in the company. “These were service providers who had some skin in the game,” said Mr. Smiedt. He won’t say how much the investment was, but it was enough to get the business off the ground.

At the same time, the founders understood that to capture consumers’ attention, they needed a design that would establish the product, called the Bobble, as a lifestyle statement. They hired industrial designer Karim Rashid, who created “something you wanted to carry around with you everywhere,” said Joshua Handy, a design expert in San Francisco.

Retailing for $10, the Bobble quickly caught on. It’s now sold at 40,000 retail stores in 32 countries, from Macy’s to Crate & Barrel; the company also sells a water-filtration jug that competes with Brita’s.